The present invention is directed generally to utility carts, and more specifically to collapsible and/or foldable utility carts, and yet additionally to utility carts which are foldable in the lateral dimension (i.e., the width of the cart), which may be useful among many other applications for transporting items typically for use at the beach, for shopping, etc.
A wide variety of prior art may be found with regard to different forms of utility carts, hand carts and other apparatus for transporting items, inter alia, to the beach and/or for shopping, for example. However, these prior art structures may be lacking in optimal utility and/or functionality. In particular, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,598,898 and 1,769,418 disclose folding carts capable of carrying a variety of items, and in different environments. However, the taught structural arrangement of the frame members for these carts does not allow the cart to be folded in such a manner that the width of the cart is reduced when in a folded or storage arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,422,751 discloses a collapsible shopping cart in which the frame members are adapted to allow the side frame members to collapse inwardly towards each other to reduce the overall width of the cart when in the folded configuration. However, the arrangement of the frame members is not optimal, in that there is no structure (e.g., a pair of lower frame members arranged in an X-shaped manner) which interconnects the front and rear legs to provide stability and rigidity to the support frame. Nor is there any structure to provide a substantial platform for supporting carried items directly on the frame members as disposed within the carrying basket.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,988,671 and 5,915,722 disclose various other forms of collapsible carts. However, although these carts may provide a certain carrying capacity, an adequate collapsibility or foldability feature is lacking. Specifically, the respective teachings regarding the disposition of the frame members do not permit for the side frame members to be collapsed inwardly towards each other to reduce the width of the cart when in a folded configuration.
In summary, none of the above cited patents shows or discloses a folding utility cart which includes various frame members adapted to collapse in a manner which (a) reduces the width (e.g., the lateral dimension) between the side frame members when in a folded configuration, and which (b) provides support for a mesh basket, as well as (c) to provide the ability to support relatively large items directly upon or substantially carried by a pair of preferably X-shaped lower frame members, such as for example a parallelogramic linkage.
Accordingly, and in view of the developed prior art, it is a material object of the improved collapsible utility cart of the present invention to substantially alleviate the defects, deficiencies and/or disadvantages of these and other prior art structures and methods.